Visitor’s Guide to Drywater
Howdy Vados!
It’s Jonathan here with another signature DR:TX Rules Ramble, leading up to next premiere Dystopia Rising Live event BLOOD IN THE WATER! This game will be led by Krypto, Jonathan, and Fable. Each post, I’ll discuss in detail an aspect of the upcoming event, compiling the rules and lore into one easy place to read! This week, we are detailing a bit more about our neighbors to the west, across Lake Bravo - the Junkerpunk town of Drywater.
TICKETS FOR OUR december premiere EVENT ARE ON SALE NOW! If you buy a ticket before dec. 6th, you can get a bonus xp for free!
December is a PREMIERE EVENT! Once each year you get the opportunity to purchase additional XP for your character, so this can be a great way to accelerate towards a new Skill, a Profession, or a new Lore. These extra funds can also help us invest in new props, new settings, and help us make this capstone event be a game to remember.
If you had a great experience at our last event THE MENAGERIE or had some suggestions for how we can improve, we’d love to hear from you! We appreciate your high-fives and suggestions and always want to seek ways to improve our events.
Fill out our Feedback Form!
We’ve updated our DR Fiction page! This summer, I’ve published some new stories digging into the narrative of our upcoming season. I’ve had a lot of fun writing them, and I’ve even dusted off a few of our older stories from the start of 3.0 if you’d like to see how far we’ve come.
Underneath a Drowned Sun - This one is particularly useful to read before this event!!
Our photos for this post were taken from previous DR:TX events by our talented Photo Team, including Lily-Jay Jones, Miranda Farmer, Heather Halstead, Noah Goodman, and Max Pohlmeier.
A Visitor’s Guide to Drywater
The rambunctious river settlement of Drywater, just across the winding waterways of Lake Bravo, to the west of New Bravado’s extended territory, has been a bit of an unruly neighbor over the years. The new Tri-City Alliance towns of Bravado and Bastion are only a short distance by boat across the murky waters of the Lake, but the radioactive Exclusion Zone and lack of any real dock at either town makes travel or trade across the lake difficult without help.
The new home of the Junkerpunk faction, the town of Drywater rose to prominence before the War of Antlers during the tumultuous years of rule by the San Saba Board to answer this need. Lake Bravado winds back and forth, stretching far to the north, all the way up to The Grove, and is connected by a narrow waterway to the Hollow Lake near Essex, the City of Light and Sound, and further south towards a smaller river port known as The Corpse. Some scholars of the Wells Society have suggested that tectonic activity created new rivers and lakes in this area after the Fall, but regardless of the origin, the waterways create a safer form of travel that connects the largest settlements of the San Saba region.
Travel by water is slower, for certain, but it avoids many of the common dangers of the wasteland. Few raider clans have mastered water vessels, and most Zed sink rather than float. Outside of the hardy lake-bound Leviathans, there are few other threats than your fellow survivors if you wanted to make your way south towards the Spoiled Coast and the Clutch. The Junkerpunks have made sure that most trade and travel goes through their fleet of river vessels, and offers safe passage across the San Saba to any that can pay their way in Brass or scrap.
The town of Drywater has swelled in size over the years, reaching nearly three times the population of Bravado at its height. While the recent Drowned Sun occupation has scattered many of the residents, it is still a denser settlement than Bravado by far. While most of the permanent residents of the town are often out on caravan journeys or plying their trade down the rivers, the seasonal population can reach upwards of 300 survivors during the busy rainy season, down to only a bare hundred or so during the Burning Season.
The sprawling settlement of Drywater stretches across the northern peninsula formed by Lake Bravo, taking advantage of a natural cove that serves well as a functional port on the rivers and lakes that connect the San Saba. From the heart of this port, the town has claimed a rowdy footprint of ramshackle buildings, tents, and constantly rebuilt structures that is just as chaotic as the faction that founded the town. The north-western shore of Lake Bravo is considerably closer to the water level, causing frequent flooding and the rise of a soggy and muck-filled forest of trees and brush that creates a natural wall to the north of the settlement.
The “muck forests”, as lovingly named by the Junkerpunk residents of Drywater are hazardous and filled with numerous zed, marsh Raiders and other mutated critters, leading most to seek passage to the north by way of the rivers and lakes. This naturally tough wasteland has made Drywater a hardy settlement, relying on each other to defend against roaming threats and other aquatic nuisances. While a land path through the swampy forest is technically possible, only the most fool hardy DJs or desperate merchants dare travel through the dangerous growths to the north of Drywater. The forests towards the north create a natural wall that defends the town, and a network of rickety towers and lumber palisade walls along the southern border of the town make scaling the cliffs of the peninsula a dangerous prospect for any would-be enemy.
While the citizens of Drywater largely make their living through harvesting lumber from the muck forests and supplying the various needs of the river trade network of the San Saba, crime has found a particular home in Drywater over the past few years. With no real law other than anarchy or cults of personality around the various merchant princes and pirate crews, the tent-lined markets of Drywater offer a place where one can find any manner of vice or criminal pursuits that one could imagine. The Dead Market has taken particular root in the town, taking advantage of the lawlessness and riotous rebel spirit of the town to recruit enforcers, find new victims to harvest for Infection, or find new ways to exploit careless travelers that don’t know better. A dangerous and deadly group of grave heads following the twisted former-Grave Council mystic known as Capricorn has added to the danger, taking over the morgue for their own sinister pursuits of Necrology.
The decay and rot has finally reached a breaking point, and the town of Drywater is set for one last violent conflict to determine their future in the San Saba. The Battle of Drywater looms in the days ahead.
A Brief History of Drywater
After the sundering of the Iron Works, several survivors fled to the Spoiled Coast and formed a new home along the Inksea. While the Junkerpunks had traditionally made their home on the Spoiled Coast, in the settlement once known as “The Clutch”, frequent rad storms and pirates drove their interests in-land. Formed by pirates, merchants, map scratchers, and Red Star survivors of the Hiway War, the Junkerpunks have always sought to create a movement of free thinkers and rebels. Seeking to sculpt a new home from the irradiated dirt, the Junkerpunks joined with the Longberths, a faction of river-folk that had historically butted heads with the merchant faction, to found the new settlement of Drywater.
Drywater finished its first permanent structures and acquired its first permanent citizens in PHW 6, only a few short years ago. While a smaller settlement of river traders had once made their home on the cove before, it was the wealth of the San Saba Republic and the Railroad Conglomerate that helped turn the town from a collection of shanties into something livable. After winning a temporary seat on the San Saba Board through their victory in a Murderball tournament, the Junkerpunks earned the right to fund a project known as the Drywater Settlement Package. This influx of Brass and scrap from the Board helped make the dreams of the Junkerpunks a reality.
With the help of Queen Jasper, the sickly regent whose death provoked the War of Antlers, the Junkerpunk coterie known as the Muddy Water Accord rose to prominence and sought to compete with RRC for control of trade in the San Saba. The Muddy Water Accord is an on-going understanding and adherence to the idea that no organization, being, or entity will ever hold dominion over another, favoring freedom and choice over structure. This agreement between the majority of the Junkerpunks states their obligations to one-another and their obligations to the wasteland as a whole are equal to their obligation to their own freedom.
The continued success of Drywater was based largely on support from Bravado and their allies in Essex. Survivors worked together to build up the town, investing in a new REDFIELD BOATEL AND SPA, creating a luxurious escape for the wealthy and elite of the San Saba Board. The investment of the RRC helped create more permanent structures in the town, from a functional dry dock for river vessels to an arsenal of cannons and firearms to defend the settlement from attack. Admiral Sinker Swim helped create a name for the successful and functional trading town, swelling Drywater in size to rival most other settlements in the San Saba.
When the airship known as Waking Prime crashed into the ground across the lake, the devastation of the radioactive Exclusion Zone poisoned the waters of Lake Bravo and nearly destroyed Drywater. The ecological nightmare of mutated leviathans and a strangely boiling lake created by the strange Monolith in the waters between Bravado and Drywater, pushed the Junkerpunks to a breaking point, as many blamed the reliance on Bravado as the reasons for their woes. Each new calamity that threatened Bravado also created challenges for Drywater, but the free spirited and anarchic rule of the town meant that each loss lingered longer in Drywater than the other settlements on the lake.
During the War of Antlers, the Junkerpunks dealt with a civil war amongst their ranks, as the pirates of the Clearwater Accord broke away from the Muddy Water loyalists and followed the pirate captain Carina Astora into sacking their remaining home in the Clutch. After their loss at the Battle of the Clutch, the remaining Junkerpunks loyal to Sinker Swim fled north, bringing with them the remnants of the Junkerpunk fleet to Drywater. Drywater allied with Bravado during the war, offering numerous citizens to help the Militia, and Junkerpunk forces were instrumental to several notable victories near the end of the war. Not every Clearwater stayed with Carina on the Spoiled Coast, and a growing resentment festered in Drywater as the war concluded.
After the war, Drywater became a haven of rebels and pirates that sought to carve out some new sense of home in a place where the skill with a scrap-metal blade or a shooter was enough to make a name for yourself. The town rejected attempts from the Grave Council or Law Dogs to offer assistance, preferring to chart their own course in the name of personal freedoms and a general distaste for the authority that the San Saba Board had represented. Without the support of the Grave Council, the morgues quickly festered and became a breeding ground for all manners of Mortis crimes. Sinker Swim struggled to keep any semblance of order in the town, and the various crews carved out areas of the town for themselves. Each crew would claim and contest territory in Drywater and frequent scuffles and turf wars would cause bursts of violence from time to time.
While it has always been a chaotic and violent town, the residents of Drywater were stubbornly fond of the chaos, preferring the unpredictable ebb and flow of commerce and crime over the example of previous leadership. The Junkerpunks simply wanted a place free of some random figurehead attempting to tax them or control them, and they violently and enthusiastically resisted any attempt to “civilize” the town, even led by their own. In the midst of this new era of the settlement, a dangerous crew of pirates made a name for themselves by openly opposing Sinker Swim — the Drowned Sun.
The Drowned Sun Rebellion
Last year, the formation of the Tri-City Alliance cemented a rift within the town of Drywater, particularly between those loyal to Sinker Swim and the Muddy Water Accord, and those that rallied behind the banners of the demagogue pirate queen, Margeaux Latiche. Her vicious crew of pirates, the Drowned Sun, offered easy promises of change to the war-weary and battered citizens of Drywater, and the accusations of favoritism towards Bravado over Drywater hounded Sinker Swim after the war. The Drowned Sun were known for various psionic abuses and criminal conspiracies, but they tended to reward those that recognized their dominance with riches and preferred trade agreements. The pirate cartel quickly became a voice for the malcontent and any that sought to blame Sinker Swim for any problems that continued to create issues for Drywater.
When the Summit in Bravado sought to sign a treaty between the nearby settlements and establish a shared defense of the San Saba, the Drowned Sun took offense at not being invited to the table. Despite their growing influence in Drywater, the residents of Bravado refused Margeaux’s attempts to represent her people’s interests, resulting in assassinations and a bloody fight between the Drowned Sun and the people of Bravado. The problems that had hampered Drywater finally erupted into open violence when Bravado chose to support Sinker over Margeaux and led to a bloody night of riots known as the Third Red Riots. Spurned by Bravado, Margeaux retreated back to Drywater to enact revenge against the Muddy Water Accord.
A number of brutal conflicts within the Junkerpunks over the past decade had frequently earned the title of a “Red Riot”. The first riots were the founding violence that established the Junkerpunk faction in the Clutch, forming an alliance and shaky accord of peace between several rival pirate leaders. While this handshake agreement kept the peace for a time, that history of bloody fighting has haunted the faction over the years. It has seemed to some that the chaotic and rebellious nature of the Junkerpunk ideals and their frequent turn towards piracy and banditry leads some pirate captains to attempt to rule by force. The betrayal of Carina Astora and the Clearwaters during the War of Antlers that cost the Junkerpunks their home in the Clutch was a stark reminder of how easily the faction fell into old patterns.
During the most recent riots, the pirates of the Drowned Sun rounded up a number of the loyalists of the Muddy Water at a tavern called The Rusty Anchor. Margeaux’s followers burned the building to the ground and trapped Sinker’s people inside to die, as they ambushed the Junkerpunk fleet anchored in the cove. There were rumors that Margeaux’s pet grave robber Capricorn made sure that any that died never made it out of the morgue, a grave violation of decency and social contracts. The bloody fighting stretched into the night, and many of the Junkerpunks loyal to the Muddy Water and friends of Bravado fled the city rather than meet their ends at the hands of the Drowned Sun. The horizon glowed red from the fires that threatened the town, a stunning defeat seemingly out of nowhere. Many of the Junkerpunk river ships were ambushed and sunk in the fighting, and the refugees took shelter in Bravado and nearby Bastion to survive the deadly Burning Season to rebuild.
Since the riot, the Drowned Sun have ruled over Drywater with an iron fist. Margeaux has used a combination of biogenetics to mentally dominate key members of the town and the threat of the necrological nightmares of Capricorn to keep the population cowed and submissive. While at first the pirate queen held a bit of popular support from those that stayed behind, her continued depravity shocked even the most moderate. Many of the Junkerpunks have simply sheltered in place in the town over the past few months, keeping to the status quo and hoping to avoid the attention of the brutal lieutenants of the Drowned Sun. The Drowned Sun have conscripted many of the citizens into hard labor, reinforcing the defenses of the town against the inevitable attempts of the Tri-City Alliance to liberate the town from their clutches.
Major Faces within Drywater
As the final Battle of Drywater approaches, the town braces for bloody fighting from street to street as the final ownership of the port town is decided during the conflict. The town is split between two major factions - the rebels still loyal to the Junkerpunks and the vicious pirates of the Drowned Sun.
The Drowned Sun
Originally a crew of criminal pirates composed primarily of Corpse Harvesters and Caravaneers peddling “the worst goods” under the captaincy of Margeaux Latiche, the Drowned Sun have become synonymous with piracy in the San Saba.
Capt. Margeaux Latiche Saltwise, The leader of the Drowned Sun, and current tyrant of Drywater. She has taken the city by force of personality with a bit of violence, and claimed a new home for her crew. Margeaux is a known facilitator of The Dead Market. Formerly of the Sunken Saints, the Drowned Sun and their crew has perpetuated the anarchy in Drywater by taking prizes from upstart politicians who sought to establish any kind of “Order”. Violence and greed is all the governing this Junker Punk would see done on the shallow seas.
Hook, Sinker’s Sister - Saltwise, The ‘voice of the people’ and regular citizen of Drywater that supported Margeaux during the conflict of the Summit. While most suspect she has been influenced by the strange psionics that Margeux has abused over the past year, she has remained an influential voice in keeping the common citizens in line.
Capricorn - Lascarian, Formerly known as Magus, the sadistic Grave Robber and former member of the Grave Council has quickly established themselves as one of Margeaux’s mostly formidable resources. Some suggest they have ties to a certain group of masked assassins, but others point towards a scientific pursuit of the Mortis and a connection to the Ossuary Society. Regardless of the reasoning, the foul experimentation with Necrology has pushed the Drywater morgue to the point of corruption.
Br’er Lapin - Semper Mort, The Bloodthirsty Vampirate Thirst Trap and Life Anchor of the Drowned Suns is certifiably insane. The right hand of Margeuax is a driving force for violence within the Drowned Suns, and their mastery of Biokinesis leads many to fear psionic manipulation from even close friends and allies. They take pleasure from inflicting terror and pain in their foes, and they are a deadly reminder of the Drowned Sun dominance of Drywater.
Calico Jack Gage - Baywalker, A veteran of the War of Antlers and owner of a small group of ships that now fly the flag of the Drowned Sun, Calico Jack is a giant of man that has lead many of the remaining Clearwater rebels to support Margeaux’s occupation of Drywater. While they claim to be simply seeking a new path forward for the Junkerpunks, they have a crew of killers that have taken a little too keenly to the violence perpetuated by the Drowned Sun on the population of Drywater.
The Junkerpunks
The Junkerpunks are a riotous group of freedom-loving punks and rebels, bound by hopeless optimism to create something better in the wasteland. They’ve long been allies of Bravado, despite the many losses the faction has suffered over the last decade.
Admiral Sinker Swim - Saltwise, The infamous Junkerpunk Admiral, the ‘Junk’ in Junkerpunk, and former member of the San Saba Board. Sinker certainly feels the tide shifting and the direction their faction is heading, and is using their influence with Bravado to buy their people as much time as they can to rekindle the punk spirit that originally inspired the faction. Sinker is also searching for someone who could wield their influence should something happen to themself, and is deeply aware of the failures that have led them to this conflict.
Guillotine (Gil for short) - Saltwise, the Right Hand of Sinker Swim, and a leader by circumstance rather than want. A punk to the bones, Guillotine joined the fight against facism (a time-honored Violence Amplifier tradition) in the war against the Board. Proving a good leader on the field, and being subject to many field promotions, they eventually found themselves shoulder-to-shoulder with Sinker. When the Drowned Suns made their move against Drywater, they began to organize the resistance with the fervor of one defending their home.
Gill Omen (Gill for short) - Saltwise, the Left Hand of Sinker Swim, Gill sailed and fought as a Lieutenant in the war against the Board, and found a swift seat in the Admiral’s fleet after its end. A stoic swashbuckler, he saw the turning of the tides coming as the Margeaux’s forces turned their teeth inward and prepared for a fight. However, in deference and respect to Sinker, he accompanied them to negotiations with gritted teeth. When the first cannons fired, he was swift to cut losses and save people so they could ensure the Drowned Sun’s tyranny would be short-lived
“Oil” Derrick - Diesel Jock, Explorer and captain of The Woe of Tyrants. Derrick leads a major conglomerate of the Diamondbacks, a merchant guild that once operated on the Spoiled Coast before the war. A leviathan hunter and sportsman, Derrick leads a team of equally insane privateers in searching for fortune and glory.
Malorous Mab - Accensorite, the former proprietor of the Elbow Room in Essex, the Final Knight matriarch of the Cali*Co Caravan has taken shelter with the Junkerpunks. Following her decision to betray Queen Debs during the War of Antlers and try to assume the crown of the San Saba Republic, she’s been forced to rebuild in squalor unbefitting her elegance.
Medusa Glory - Saltwise, Killed during the Red Riots, presumed captured or killed by Capricorn. A mother figure to basically every sailor that came from the Clutch, she was the one person that could easily move between crews and settle disputes between captains.
Major Locations within Drywater
The town of Drywater is a haphazard collection of permanent buildings built during the heyday of the RRC influence over the town, a thriving tent city of merchants and traders seeking to make a profit from the occupation and worn down wasteland hovels that have been rebuilt countless times over the years. The low roof tops of the town and close proximity of buildings to one another have led to many residents choosing to travel over the various slums and tenements of the town by taking rickety bridges and ladders from ledge to ledge. While the town can be a maze to visitors, the locals find it easy to move from place to place from above, or to just use the muddy lanes of planks and boards that make up the winding thoroughfares in the town.
A general lack of building codes, frequent fires, and rebuilt and repaired structures has given the town an eclectic organization, but there are a few major locations of note that have survived over the years within the port town. Most of the buildings in the town are crude structures of wood and scrap metal, with tents stretched between alleys and stunted trees offering something that might be considered shelter in the wasteland. Drywater is a tapestry of wealth and poverty, with stout merchant storehouses right beside scrap heaps and decayed wrecks.
The name “Drywater” is a bit of a joke, as the area is perpetually muddy and sodden. Waves from Lake Bravo drench the shores of the Cove, and frequent rainfall and flooding are retained in the muck forests to the north. The area maintains a healthy and sticky level of humidity that the Saltwise that live in the area find refreshing, but most others regret. A perpetual stench hovers over parts of the town, a mixture of sludge and refuse from the poorer sections mixing with the muddy paths of the town. Only during the Burning Season does the town ever really dry out, and even then the cracked mud and waste only heighten the stink during the hot summer days. When a fresh breeze does make it through the cramped alleys of the town, it is a welcome respite.
Because of this mess, the higher elevations of the east side of the town are reserved for the powerful and wealthy, with the ominous Black Keep and palisade walls protecting any approach from across the Lake. The former Boatel and Spa has been repurposed into a common town square, and loud parties and drunk hooligans keep the area busy well into the night. With most of the other RRC resources having been withdrawn back to Essex or Morgan’s Folly, there are an equal number of empty tenements and buildings in Drywater, perfect for shady deals, smuggling, and murderous affairs.
Any battle to retake Drywater will be a bloody affair, with fighting moving from street to street, from rooftop to rooftop, in a messy struggle to claim ground in the busy streets. Numerous cutbacks, choke points, and reinforced buildings will offer easy defenses against an encroaching force, and it will take time to clear building to building during the inevitable Battle of Drywater.
The Cove
The central feature and primary port of Drywater is home to several docks and slips for the river vessels that make up the Junkerpunk fleet. The natural cove offers cover from storms and shelter from the larger leviathans than prowl the waters of Lake Bravo. The Drowned Sun have a amassed a sizable fleet of pirate ships, and the cannons mounted on the ships make up the primary defenses of the town. The shallow waters mean that even a ship that is taking on water can still be a threat in a naval battle, and a scrap hill and reinforced tower in the opening of the Cove offers a place to brace a heavy chain to prevent easy access to the port during a battle. Control of the Cove is crucial to any faction that seeks to control Drywater, as it represents the only major river port in the San Saba outside of Essex itself. The Drowned Sun have done their best to make any attempt to claim the Cove will turn into a bloody and desperate battle that will test the wits and wills of the Junkerpunks in the battles ahead.
The Morgue on the Hill
The Imix Institute, a think tank for the Grave Council under Takheeta Firstborn once stood on the hill overlooking Lake Bravo. The town’s only true Morgue, the area is separated from the town across a desolate stretch of sodden battlefield. When a zed incursion emerges from the morgue, the scrap cannons mounted on the palisade at the base of the hill are usually enough to destroy most of the shamblers and flesh tanks that might threaten the town. The Morgue is the primary haunt of Capricorn’s cult of grave robbers, and is home to the nefarious experiments in Necrology that have corrupted the morgue of the town. Strange pustules and growths from within stand as a reminder of the corruption, and virtually no sailor in the town stays for long at the Morgue by choice.
The Anchor Ruins
During the riots, the Rusty Anchor, one of the largest taverns and pubs in the town was burned to the ground, taking with it a sizable block or so in every direction. Only a massive scarred and rusted anchor remains, a cruel memory of what used to be. The Drowned Sun have prevented any attempt to rebuild the Anchor, keeping it as a brutal reminder of the consequences of opposing their rule. Brer and his crew are known for stringing up rebels and enemies to rot in the sun, staking their bodies to the ramshackle ruins of the bar. The survivors are starved and tortured, and the Drowned Sun let the crows and other carrion beasts pick at the bleeding corpses of the rebels until they finally pass into the corrupted morgue beneath their feets. The screams of the dying keep the populace suitably cowed, and the ruins are considered a foul omen by many of the superstitious sailors of Drywater.
The Dead Market
A veritable tent city of artisans, merchants, and traders make up the busiest segment of Drywater. The various merchant princes and caravans’ line up wares from across the San Saba, and for the right price virtually any good can be acquired. While there is no real law in Drywater, there is an unspoken rule that trade is not to be disrupted. Even the Drowned Sun are hesitant to crack down too much in the market, as the merchants are a valuable ally of Margeaux. As long as they pay tribute to Margeaux, they are allowed to make a profit from both sides, supplying rebels and pirates alike. Without the trade routes bringing fresh food, scrap, and resources from abroad, the town would not be able to support the number of citizens that call Drywater home.
The Muckyards
The primary ship yards of Drywater are the heart and soul of commerce in the town. The muddy ramparts of the workshops here offer a dry dock and place to repair and outfit the fleets of the Junkerpunks. Considered accorded neutral ground by all but the most suicidal, the talented artisans here try to turn a blind eye to the excesses of the Drowned Sun, instead focusing on the constant flow of jobs and commerce that keep them busy. No one dares anger the dockworkers and shipwrights, as the very heart of Drywater relies on their expertise to keep their haulers and trawlers afloat. Any that anger the Drowned Sun find themselves conscripted to hard labor, cutting lumber and casting scrap metal for their pirate ships.
The Black Keep
Margeaux’s fortress home and headquarters, the Black Keep is one of the original buildings from the founding of Drywater. The stout walls are soot covered from frequent fires in Drywater, giving it the obvious name, but the concrete bunker was likely once some fortification or military fort from before the Fall. It is the true heart of Drywater, and the last bastion of the Drowned Sun should they lose control of the Cove. Should zed or raider attacks reach too far into the town, the Black Keep offers shelter for citizens in the case of emergencies and has a source of mostly clean fresh water from a mineral spring below the keep. Capable of withstanding most wasteland sieges, the Keep is probably the only building that hasn’t really been replaced or burned over the years since the Founding.
The Boatel & Town Hall
The former Boatel & Spa has seen better days, but has been turned into a fortified building for the Drowned Sun. The open courtyards and luxurious stone buildings are one of the other major attractions of the town, and the wealth of the buildings in this area are a reminder of the excesses of the powerful. While workers are still largely paid fair wages for their services, the kitchens and culinary arts have taken a turn towards more illicit goods than during the days of RRC leadership. Crystal Candy flows from the halls of the Boatel, and residents often gather here in the evenings to drink, gamble, and find some distraction from the occupation. Even the Drowned Sun realize the value in letting their crews blow off steam, so this is one of the few areas not locked down by a curfew at night, provided you have the Brass to spend.
The “Walls” of Drywater
While the muck forests and swamps to the north make assault from that direction basically impossible, a sturdy palisade that protects the eastern and southern borders of Drywater. These walls are a crude combination of stone and scrap piles, reinforcing a series of heavy lumber pillars that form a barricade from zed, raiders, and any true attack on the town. There are three gates, the North Gate, the Middle Gate, and the Dead Gate that defend the major approaches from the east, each perched at the top of the natural eastern cliffs. Several watchtowers and defenses mount scrap cannons and sniper posts to defend the town, and the blistering fire of the wall defenses make the approach towards the Cove or any of the Gates a dangerous prospect. Ships approaching the Cove will have to endure withering attacks from the walls with little cover in between, and the rocky cliffs of the peninsula make landing any large force difficult. There are many gaps and areas where smaller groups could sneak past the walls, but the natural terrain makes a climb treacherous. The walls of Drywater are meant to slow down and funnel enemies into areas where they can be dealt with, more than completing stopping any exit or entrance into the town.
The Lookout
A few years ago a disaster fire on the ship sank a Junkerpunk boat in the Cove, and rather than let the loss go to waste, the town converted the makeshift island into a new defense for the town. Large chains can be anchored to the Lookout from the edges of the Cove, creating a formidable barrier for any attack by the Lake. The thick scrap metal chains slow any attacking vessels to halt or sink them entirely, letting defenders pick off any survivors with sniper fire or grape shot.
Captain’s Quarters
The eastern peninsula of Drywater has a slightly higher elevation and the cliffs offer a bit better real estate for permanent buildings, with a bit less muck and flooding. As such, the various Captains and Admirals of the Junkerpunks reserve the best residences for themselves and their trusted crews. When a crew becomes prominent enough to claim a berth in the Captain’s Quarters, they are usually considered one of the ranking Admirals of Drywater. Having to defend a residence and manage a merchant fleet means that only the truly successful pirates and traders can call the upper hills of Drywater home.
Artisan Row & the Fields
While Drywater could likely produce enough food to feed itself, no one can really agree on who should share the labor. By enlisting off duty crews to work the Fields, each pirate captain is expected to handle the needs for their ship and crew, but it rarely works out. Though even punks have to eat, it’s often easier to simply buy food from the Boatel or Market. To the south, the Artisan Row hosts a number of shops for talented craftsmen and women, from sail makers to smiths, and a host of other skilled laborers that meet the needs of the river fleets of the Junkerpunks.
The Gardens
Drywater is ambivalent to most of the modern faiths of the wasteland, but if there was holy ground it would be in the Gardens. The Tribe of Seasons cultivates the gardens that earned the district its name, letting the riotous plantlife encroach into the town. The Light of Hedon has claimed the largest temple complex in the area, one of the more stable structures in the northern edge of Drywater. It’s more of a brothel than any true house of worship, but the strong walls make it more of an emergency shelter more often than not. When raiders or zed make it through the muck forests into the town, it offers a convenient rally point for those unfortunate enough to claim a home nearby.
Cali*Co Caravan Storage Yard
After the War of Antlers, many of the Cali*Co Caravan joined with the Junkerpunks in Drywater, seeking refuge from the poor decisions during the war and a more hospitable trading network than Essex. The Final Knights control much of the dry storage in the town, charging rent and dock fees to use their properties in town. They keep to themselves, but the infamous Malorous Mab makes frequent visits to the town to inspect their holdings.
Wrap Up
That’s it for today, Vados.
We hope that you will come join us for our next event, BLOOD IN THE WATER. The liberation of Drywater is here, and it’ll be up to you to help save your neighbor from the deadly pirates of the Drowned Sun. Will you get a chance to face one of Margeaux’s crew on the battlefield? Will you find a way to stop the insidious corruption that lurks within the morgues of Drywater? Will you survive your grave dive into a corrupted morgue and evade the ruthless WAHEL? Will you make sure that the BLOOD IN THE WATER belongs to the Drowned Sun and not you and your friends? Let’s find out together!
See you soon, Vados!
